


Safe as houses

by CirrusGrey



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Anthropomorphism - Freeform, Episode Related, M/M, Manipulation, POV Second Person, Short, Sort Of, This is weird, by the cabin, episode 162 spoilers, it's the narrator, look idk that episode gave me some weird inspiration, yes the cabin is a sentient character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23578804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirrusGrey/pseuds/CirrusGrey
Summary: SPOILERS FOR MAG 162!!!You do not understand.It had been going so well.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 26
Kudos: 171





	Safe as houses

You do not understand. 

It had been going so well.

  
  
  


You have kept them safe since your awakening, and the world outside is so dangerous. They have clung to each other within your walls, and cried, and been so, so afraid.

It is quiet here. It is  _ safe. _ And they want that.

So you have given it to them.

And

It

Worked.

Since you awoke, the fear has been there, hot and fierce, hanging in every loving touch and futile gesture of comfort. Your walls are thick, and absorbent, and any sounds from outside have been muffled... until they start their talk of leaving, and you let through the screams and cries of pain and fear, and they huddle closer together once more, and murmur,  _ maybe later. _

Love is so easy to manipulate. Love  _ should be _ so easy to manipulate.

They argue, though they do not call it arguing. Their voices stay low and measured, but their tones turn sharp and cutting as words slip out they never meant to say, barbed with resentment and bitter uncertainty.

One gets up in a huff, leaving the room they have been in and moving to another, and you can feel the heavy tread of those feet on your floors. The other calls after, a shout of a name, and your walls swallow the sound.

They are alone, now. So, so alone. You make them aware of it.

They are quick to return to each other's arms, silent and fearful. They do not want to lose each other in your depths, no matter how small you pretend to be. They love each other.

They are so, so afraid.

And it is good.

  
  
  


Until it isn't.

You do not understand.

They are afraid, and you can feel their fear. They are trapped, and they are safe, and it is dangerous outside, so easy to get lost and to lose...

And they are leaving.

  
  
  


The one has bags packed; the other, a tape recorder near at hand. Their fear is palpable and sweet; it lingers in the air as they talk, and you feed on it and feed it, letting it bleed back into the echo chamber of your sanctuary.

_ Stay. Stay. Outside you will be lost. _

Their hands grip tighter, and for a moment you think you have won; but still, something is wrong.

This is not the slow, leaching, hopeless fear that you are used to, the fear that keeps them clinging to what is already fading away, the fear that holds them fast in each other's arms and keeps them lying that as long as they are together, then it  _ must  _ be okay.

This fear is... determined. It burns you, even more than the threat of arson from the webbed flame in the tape-holder's pocket. This fear does not feed on their love: it  _ feeds  _ it, pushing them together, hands clasped and faces turned to your door as they take their first steps.

You  _ do not understand. _

You cannot manipulate this; all your threats and the terrors of the world outside are twisted in it, fanning the flames higher: fear, love, and determination.

You seal your exits but they don't even notice, eyes fixed on each other as the door swings open against your will.

They are going to leave. They cannot leave.

They  _ cannot leave. _

You need them. You need their fear to fuel you.

You will make them stay.

Before they can take their first step you hit them with it, all you have: danger and terror and loss, endless, burning loss that they can never recover from, that can all be avoided if only they'll stay here, stay where it's safe...

The one clutches the other's hand, and they speak.

"What if this is the wrong choice? What if- what if something happens, and I can't save you?"

_ Yes, _ you say,  _ yes, that's right, stay. Forever. _

The other sighs. "That's a possibility. But if we stay here, we  _ know  _ things are going to go bad."

The first smiles, a bit, and leans over in a gesture you have heard them call a kiss. It burns you, how little fear they feel.

"So let's go."

And... they are gone.

There is nothing you can do to stop them. Nothing you can do to bring them back.

They have left.

And you do not understand.


End file.
